Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion(コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ,Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu?), often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese animeseries created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by manga authors Clamp. Set in an alternate timeline, the series focuses on how the former prince Lelouch vi Britannia obtains a power known as Geass and decides to use it to obliterate the Holy Britannian Empire, an imperial monarchy and a superpower that has been conquering various countries.

Code Geass first ran in Japan on MBS from October 5, 2006, to July 28, 2007. Its sequel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2(コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2,Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Rurūshu Āru Tsū?), ran as a simulcast on JNN stations (like MBS and TBS) from April 6, 2008 to September 28, 2008. The series has also been adapted into various manga and light novels with the former showing various alternate scenarios from the TV series. Bandai Entertainment also licensed most parts from the franchise for English release in December 2007, airing the two TV series on Cartoon Network. Most manga and light novels have also been published in North America by Bandai.

The TV anime series has been well received in Japan, selling over a million DVD and Blu-ray Disc volumes. Both seasons have won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Animage Anime Grand Prix, and Animation Kobe event. Critics have also praised the series for its large audience appeal as well as the cross conflicts shown among the main characters and the moral questions presented.

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The story is set in an alternative timeline where the world is split into three superpowers, Britannia, the Chinese Federation, and the European Union (previously known as the Euro-Universe). The story takes place after the Holy Britannian Empire's conquest on Japan on August 10, 2010 a.t.b. (1955 A.D.), by means of Britannia's newest weapon, the "Autonomous Armored Knight", or Knightmare Frame. In turn, Britannia effectively strips Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renames the country Area 11 with its citizens referred to as Elevens.

Lelouch Lamperouge is an exiled Britannian prince who was sent as a bargaining tool to Japan, along with his sister Nunnally Lamperouge, by his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, after his mother, Marianne vi Britannia, was killed. When Marianne was murdered, Nunnally was set up as a false witness. Because of this, her sight and her ability to walk were taken from her. This makes it difficult for Lelouch because he must take care of her while on the run in Japan during the war. After the war in the ruins of a Japanese city he then vows to his Japanese friend Suzaku Kururugi that he will one day obliterate Britannia. Seven years later, Lelouch gets caught up in a terrorist attack and finds a girl called C.C. (C2), who saves Lelouch's life from the Britannian Royal Guard, by making a contract with him that grants Lelouch a power known as Geass (ギアス,giasu?). This power, also known as the Power of the King (王の力,Ō no Chikara?), allows him to command anyone to do whatever he wants, whether bending their will to live, fight, or die on his behalf – though only once, with direct eye contact. Lelouch decides to put his Geass to use and find the person who killed his mother, destroy the Britannian Empire, and to create a better world where his younger sister, Nunnally, can live happily. In the process, Lelouch becomes the leader of the resistance movement known as The Black Knights under his alter ego Zero, as he gains popularity and support among the Japanese on his way towards the rebellion of Britannia.

Code Geass began as a concept developed at Sunrise by Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi, who proposed it to producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi had previously approached Okouchi and Taniguchi during the production of Planetes.[1] The basic idea for the plot consisted of a "hero" who led a secret organization, which was later developed into a conflict between two characters with different values and who belonged to the same military unit.[1]

During these initial planning stages, Kawaguchi also contacted the noted manga artist group Clamp.[1] This was the first time Clamp had ever been requested to design the characters of an anime series.[2] Clamp signed onto the project early during these development stages and provided numerous ideas, which helped develop the series' setting and characters.[2]

While developing the character designs for Lelouch Lamperouge, the protagonist of the series, Clamp had originally conceived of his hair color as being white.[2]Ageha Ohkawa, head writer at Clamp, said she had visualized him as being a character to which "everyone" could relate to as being "cool", literally, a "beauty".[2] During these planning stages, Clamp and the Sunrise staff had discussed a number of possible inspirations for the characters, including KinKi Kids and Tackey & Tsubasa.[2] They had wanted to create a "hit show," a series which would appeal to "everyone."[2] Lelouch's alter ego, Zero, was one of the earliest developed characters, with Ōkouchi having wanted a mask to be included as a part of the series, feeling it was necessary for it to be a Sunrise show, and Clamp wanting a unique design never prior seen in any Sunrise series (said mask was nicknamed "tulip" for its distinctive design).[2]

Clamp's finalized original character design art, illustrated by its lead artist Mokona, was subsequently converted into animation character designs for the series by Sunrise's character designer Takahiro Kimura, who had previously spent "every day" analyzing Clamp's art and style from their artbooks and manga series.[2] In working on the animation character designs, he focused on designing them so as to enable the series' other animators to apply them without deviating from Clamp's original art style.[2]

The music for the series was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, who had earlier worked with the series' core staff in Planetes and Taniguchi's earlier work Gun X Sword. In addition to the incidental music featured in each episode, Kuroishi also composed numerous insert songs for the series, including "Stories", "Masquerade", "Alone", and "Innocent Days", which were each performed by Kuroishi herself, while "Picaresque" and "Callin'" were performed by the singer-songwriterMikio Sakai, who had also earlier worked with Nakagawa and Kuroishi in Planetes. The bands FLOW, Ali Project, Jinn, SunSet Swish, Access, and Orange Range have provided songs for the opening and ending themes.[3][4]

When the series was being developed for broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System, it had been given the network's Saturday evening prime time slot, which was later changed to a Thursday late night time slot. Due to this change, the overall outlook and some elements of the series were changed and further developed to suit the more mature, late night audience.[1] The supernatural "Geass" ability finally came into the show at this point and was first conceived as a special power granted by an "angel" to the main characters, though this last part was also modified.[1]

Code Geass officially premiered on the Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) television station at 25:25 on October 5, 2006 (01:25 JST on October 6, 2006). Its satellite television premiere across Japan on Animax was on November 7, 2006.[5][6] Upon the airing of the first 23 episodes, the series went on hiatus on March 29, 2007,[5][7] and completed broadcast of the first series with a contiguous one-hour broadcast of episodes 24 and 25 at 26:25 on Saturday, July 28, 2007.[8]

The immense popularity of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion followed with the development of its sequel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, which was first announced on the March 2007 issue of Newtype and later confirmed by Sunrise producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi on the series' official staff blog on March 9, 2007.[9][10]

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 premiered on all Japan News Network (JNN) member stations (like MBS and TBS) on April 6, 2008, in the primetime anime timeslot, with the timeslot changing from 18:00 JST on Saturdays to 17:00 JST on Sundays.[11][12] Prior to the series' television broadcast, three private preview screenings of episode 1 were held on March 15 and March 16 in Osaka and Tokyo respectively, which was attended by the series' Japanese voice actors as well as a pool of 3800 randomly selected applicants. On April 15, 2008, at 17:00 JST, the last 6 minutes of the then unaired third episode was accidentally posted onto the Internet due to an error by Bandai Channel, Bandai's online broadcast channel and the series online distributor, in the midst of testing a system preventing illegal online uploads.[13]

Both seasons of Code Geass have been licensed for release in the United States by Bandai Entertainment,[14] and the first season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in the U.S. on April 27, 2008; the second began airing on November 2, immediately following the first season, both viewable in English on Adult Swim Video.[15] The series finale premiered on June 7, 2009, ending the second season and the rest of the story. On April 23, 2010, Adult Swim's rights to this series expired.[citation needed] In Australia and New Zealand, the series is sub-licensed to Madman Entertainment by Bandai Entertainment USA,[16] and began airing on Australian channel ABC2 from January 19, 2009. In the Philippines, the first season of Code Geass premiered on November 10, 2008, weekday nights at 7:30pm PST and ended on December 15, 2008 through TV5 while season 2 premiered on May 4, 2009 and ended on June 5, 2009, weekday nights at 6:00pm PST with a weekend afternoon recap of the week's episodes also on TV5. Despite the poor ratings it attained due to competition with local TV newscasts and prime time soaps, the series was able to gain a huge following and became one of the most talked-about anime series in the country during its run. Code Geass had its Philippine cable premiere on July 27, 2010 through Hero TV. In Italy the first season was broadcast from September 24, 2009 to February 25, 2010 on Rai 4 and the second season was broadcast on Rai 4 too from March 4, 2010 to August 12, 2010; both series were broadcast at about 11.10 pm. Following the closure of Bandai Entertainment in 2012, Sunrise announced at their panel at Otakon 2013, that Funimation has rescued both seasons of Code Geass and in addition licensed Akito the Exiled OVAs, along with a handful of other former Bandai Entertainment titles.[17]

The release of Code Geass: The Miraculous Birthday(コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ キセキの誕生日,Kōdo Giasu: Kiseki no Tanjōbi?) included bonus material about a new Code Geass OVA anime in production called Code Geass: Akito the Exiled(コードギアス 亡国のアキト,Kōdo Giasu: Bōkoku no Akito?), directed by Kazuki Akane. The side story is an OVA, set in Europe during the Britannian invasion of Europe between Lelouch of the Rebellion's two seasons.[18] The drama itself was based on a live event held in Tokyo, Japan on Lelouch's birthday.[citation needed]

Another OVA anime titled Code Geass: Nunnally in Wonderland(コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ： ナナリーinワンダーランド,Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Rurūshu: Nanarī in wandārando?) was announced and revealed in the anime's official website. Takahiro Kimura will do the character designs of the series. Makoto Baba is assigned as the director of the OVA while episode scriptwriter Yuuichi Nomura and music composer Kotaro Nakagawa will return for the said project. In the story, Lelouch makes the ultimate use of his Geass for his little sister Nunnally, who loves Alice in Wonderland.[19] The Blu-ray was released by Bandai Visual on July 27, 2012 with English subtitles and bundled with a 40 page picture book.[20]

Kadokawa Shoten has published four separate manga adaptations, each containing an alternate storyline.[21] The first four of the manga series have been licensed for an English language release in North America by Bandai Entertainment.[22] The first, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, by Majiko~! and originally serialized Monthly Asuka, focused on the protagonist of the series, Lelouch Lamperouge, with few differences from the anime's basic storyline. The most noticeable difference from the anime version is the absence of the Knightmare frames. Its chapters were collected in eight tankōbon volumes released from December 26, 2008 to March 26, 2010.[23][24] Bandai's English adaptation of the series was published from July 29, 2008[25] to February 15, 2011.[26]

The second manga is Code Geass: Suzaku of the Counterattack(コードギアス 反攻のスザク,Kōdo Giasu: Hankō no Suzaku?). It was written by Atsuro Yomino and serialized in Beans A magazine. It focuses on the character Suzaku Kururugi in an alternate reality, where he fights against the criminal organization known as the Black Knights. It was released in two volumes on June 26, 2007 and September 26, 2008.[27][28] The first English volume was released on January 6, 2009,[29] and the second followed it on October 13, 2009.[30]

Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally(コードギアス ナイトメア・オブ・ナナリー,Kōdo Giasu Naitomea Obu Nanarī?), serialized in Comp Ace and written by Tomomasa Takuma, focuses on Lelouch's sister, Nunnally Lamperouge who goes into searching her missing brother when her health is restored by an entity named Nemo.[21] It was published in five volumes from June 26, 2007[31] to April 25, 2009.[32] The English volumes were published from June 9, 2009[33] to March 23, 2010.[34]

A fourth manga adaptation, Code Geass: Tales of an Alternate Shogunate(幕末異聞録 コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ,Bakumatsu Ibun Roku Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Rurūshu?), was serialized in Kerokero Ace.[citation needed] Set in an alternate 1853, Lelouch is the commander of the Shogunate's military counterinsurgence brigade known as the Shinsengumi, which fights the Black Revolutionaries, a rebel group led by a masked individual known as Rei. It was released on a single volume on October 25, 2010,[35] while the English version was published on May 10, 2011.[36]

In late 2009, Bandai announced a new project greenlit for 2010. A manga, titled Code Geass: Renya of Darkness(コードギアス 漆黒の連夜,Kōdo Giasu: Shikkoku no Renya?), is the first product announced. The story takes place in the same official Code Geass history as the anime, but in a different era with the anime director Goro Taniguchi is scripting the story. The title character, Renya, is a 17-year-old boy who encounters a mysterious, perpetually young witch named "Reifū C.C." has appeared in Japan's historical Edo era to seek a new partner for a covenant.[37] It began publication in the May 2010 issue of Shōnen Ace. Bandai Entertainment will publish the manga in English as with the other adaptions.[38] On January 2, 2012 as a part of Bandai Entertainment's announced restructuring, they have since, among other titles, revoked publishing of Code Geass: Renya of Darkness for English release.[39]

The Code Geass spinoff Oz the Reflection takes place between the first and second seasons of the TV anime and is told from two perspectives. The photo story in Hobby Japan centers around Orpheus Zevon, a young terrorist with the Knightmare Frame Byakuen who is in pursuit of his lover's killer. The manga in Newtype Ace revolves around Oldrin Zevon, a girl in the Britannia Empire's anti-terrorist unit Glinda Knights who pilots the Knightmare Frame Lancelot Grail. The story of Oz the Reflection and Akito the Exiled takes place at the same time in between season 1 and 2 of the TV series.

The music for the series, composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, has been released across two original soundtracks produced by Yoshimoto Ishikawa and released by Victor Entertainment. The first was released in Japan on December 20, 2006, and the second on March 24, 2007.[3] The covers and jackets for both soundtracks were illustrated by Takahiro Kimura.[3]

The series has also been adapted into a series of drama CDs, called Sound Episodes, the first of which was released in Japan in April 2007 by Victor Entertainment, with new volumes released monthly. Written by many of the same writers as the series, these episodes are set between episodes and feature theme songs performed by the series' voice actors. They have also been available online on a limited streaming basis on the Japanese internet website Biglobe.[citation needed]

In total, twelve drama CDs have been released. The first six, released between April 25, 2007 and September 27, 2007 cover the first season of the series, and the other six focusing on the second season.

Code Geass has been additionally novelized into a series of light novels. First serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's The Sneaker magazine, they are divided into two separate series corresponding with the series two seasons. The first series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, spanned five volumes with the first, labelled as volume 0, released in Japan on April 28, 2007 and the last on March 1, 2008.[40][41] All five volumes in the first series of novels have been released in English by Bandai Visual.[22] The first volume was released on November 2008 and the last one on February 23, 2010.[25][41] The first novel acts as a prologue, focusing on how Lelouch befriended Suzaku Kururugi, when the former prince and his sister Nunnally Lamperouge were sent to Japan as political hostages.

The second novel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, covers the second season of the anime series in which Lelouch continues his battle against the Britannian Empire. It was released in four volumes from June 1, 2008 to March 1, 2009.[42][43] A single volume side story novel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Red Tracks(コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ 朱の軌跡,Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu Shu no Kiseki?) was released on April 1, 2008 in Japan. It focuses on the life of teenager girl Kallen Stadtfeld who becomes a soldier from the organization the Black Knights under Lelouch's leadership to defeat Britannia.[44] On January 3, 2012, the English publication of the light novel adaptation of R2 had been announced as cancelled as part of Bandai Entertainment's planned restructuring which had been announced the day before.[45]

The official website for the first Nintendo DS game launched on July 16, 2007, with the game being released a few months later on October 25.[50]

A second game, titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Lost Colors was developed for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2, and released in Japan on March 27, 2008.[51] It is a visual novel game which follows a new protagonist named Rai (ライ?), who suffers from amnesia. He has a Geass ability similar to Lelouch's, but activated by voice.

The third game for the Nintendo DS is a collection of minigames featuring super deformed forms of the characters. The player moves along a board through dice rolls, landing on different spots to activate minigames. The minigames are parody-style events with multiple genres. These include helping Jeremiah grow oranges, racing against C.C. and Shirley in swimming, and a sidescrolling beat-em-up featuring Kallen in Guren-like armor.[citation needed]

Code Geass characters have appeared as costumes in the Japanese version of the PlayStation 3 game, Tales of Graces F. These characters are Zero, Suzaku, C.C. and Kallen. These costumes were never released from the US version for unknown reasons.[52]

Two artbooks featuring illustrations of the series, Code Geass Graphics Zero (ISBN 4048540793) and Code Geass Graphics Ashford (ISBN 4048540807), have been published in Japan.[21] Coinciding with the release of the second season of Code Geass was the publication of another artbook, Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion illustrations Rebels (ISBN 4048541692), which featured 134 art pieces of the first season. Another 95 page artbook titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion – The Complete Artbook (ISBN 9784048541183) has also been published. Finally, CLAMP, the well-known manga artist team who did the designs for Code Geass, put out their own artbook, entitled Code Geass x CLAMP: Mutuality.[citation needed]

"Code Geass" has also been adapted into a series of weekly internet radio broadcasts, which were streamed online on the BEAT☆Net Radio! portal, the first of which, Code Geass: The Rebellion Diary(コードギアス 反逆日記,Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku Nikki?), began streaming from October 6, 2006. It featured Sayaka Ohara (voice actor of Milly Ashford) and Satomi Arai (voice actor of Sayoko Shinazaki). The second, Code Geass – Mountains of the Rebellion(コードギアス 反逆の山々,Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Yamayama?), was first streamed on December 12, 2006, and were hosted by Jun Fukuyama (voice actor of Lelouch) and Noriaki Sugiyama (voice actor of Rivalz). During R2, a new show named Code Geass – LuluKuru Station(コードギアス ルルクルステーション,Kōdo Giasu Rurukuru Suteishōn?) was streamed, hosted by Fukuyama and Takahiro Sakurai (voice actor of Suzaku).[citation needed]

When the first episode was shown during a special test screening, which was attended by Ōkawa, other members of the series' staff, as well as several journalists and other media-related personnel in response to the hype surrounding the series' upcoming release, the audience fell into immediate silence after it ended, followed by "tremendous applause."[1] By August 2008, over 900,000 Code Geass discs had been sold in Japan.[53] Reportedly, Bandai Visual shipped over one million DVD and Blu-ray Discs related to the Code Geass franchise by November 2008, placing it among the most popular contemporary anime series in both Japan and North America.[54] During 2008, the first volume from R2 was the fourth bestselling anime DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Japan according to Amazon.com.[55]

Since its premiere, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion has collected numerous awards and accolades. At the sixth annual Tokyo Anime Awards held at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair, Code Geass won the best TV anime series award.[56] The second season also got the award of "Best Screenplay" in the 2009 Tokyo Anime Fair.[57] In noted Japanese anime magazine Animage '​s 29th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Code Geass won the most popular series award, with Lelouch Lamperouge also being chosen as the most popular male character and "Colors" being chosen as the most popular song[citation needed]. In the 30th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Lelouch won first place again and C.C. was voted most popular female character[citation needed]. At the first Seiyu Awards held in 2007, Jun Fukuyama won the award for best actor in a leading role for his performance as Lelouch Lamperouge in the series, while Ami Koshimizu won the award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Kallen Stadtfeld.[58]

Furthermore, Code Geass won the award for Best TV Animation at the twelfth Animation Kobe event, held annually in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture,[59] with R2 taking the award in the following year.[60] In the 2009, Seiun Award, Code Geass R2 was a nominee in the category "Best Media Award".[61]

Anime News Network's columnist Todd Ciolek attributes the soaring popularity of Code Geass to "the series hitting every important fan sector," with the audience appeal points ranging from a "complex cast of characters and a fast-paced story, told with Goro Taniguchi's capable direction" for "general-interest fans" to "pretty and just-a-little-broken heroes" for "yaoi-buying female fans."[62] Carl Kimlinger also finds that the series "has the skill and energy to carry viewers over the top with it, where they can spend a pleasurable few hours reveling in its melodramatic charms."[63] He also adds that Taniguchi "executes the excesses of his series with care, skillfully intercutting events as Lelouch's plans come together (or fall apart) and using kinetic mecha combat".[64]

Anime News Network wrote that the franchise "in a way, [...] reflects the malaise of a generation: the realization that old, rich, powerful people have screwed up the world and that the young are helpless to do anything about it". According to him, Lelouch's actions exemplify the wish to see problems like "economic collapse, class conflict, political instability, radical extremism" solved by "Zero's vigilante methods" but Santos expresses doubt in such an approach and concludes that "the series is at its best when raising questions rather than offering a final solution".[65]